The Blind Jutsu
by silly chibi
Summary: Avatar Naruto Crossover! What if Toph was suddenly sent to the Naruto world? How would the strongest earthbender deal with a bunch of shinobi? Make suggestions please!
1. Chapter 1

Naruto and friends are around 18 years old.

Gai's team is 19 years old.

Toph is around 17 years old. I'm making her younger than the others because she is reluctant to grow up anyway.

Jounin Senseis are late 20s and early thirties.

Other background information: I choose to explain in my story, so read and find out.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Avatar the Last Airbender.

All reviews welcome!!

Glossary at the end.

Chapter One: No Way…

This wouldn't have happened if she could see.

Sure being able to 'see', using the vibrations that the earth provides, is great. So perfect in fact, that Toph still can't understand how she tripped.

She took a walk away from her friends, confident in her ability to use earth bending to 'see' where she was going and if anyone might suddenly attack her. It would have been impossible to have tripped over a stupid rock or tree root because she would have _seen_ it. Anything that gave off the slightest vibration could be perceived by Toph, because of her connection to the Earth. Instead, as she was walking, it felt as though the ground beneath her simply _disappeared _from underneath her. A moment later, she felt her face hit the dirt.

She placed her hands on the ground, ready to push herself up, and immediately noticed that something was different.

_The earth felt different._

She couldn't exactly put her hands on the sudden change, she just knew. Like the way a newborn suddenly realized it wasn't in the arms of its mother. Something was wrong.

She immediately concentrated on the ground, searching for the familiar vibrations that significantly belonged to her friends.

'Where are you Twinkle-Toes (1)?' She thought as she searched for the familiar vibrations of Aang, a boy who was light on his feet. Or maybe even Katara, a graceful girl probably walking around the campsite, preparing the supplies for the next trip. Sokka was leaning against the tree, sharpening his weapons, when she left him. Or maybe even the heavy breathing of Appa, the flying bison. But she didn't feel any of those familiar vibrations.

Instead she noticed that there were three people distinctly different from her friends, some ways away to her right. They were light on their feet as well, but as far as she was concerned, Aang was the only air bender left.

It felt as though two of them were fighting, the vibrations relaying to her their heavy breathing and quick heartbeats, probably from the adrenaline. The third seemed nervous as he or she watched the fight, some distance from the other two. The person kept repeatedly shifting from one foot to another, worried about the two in combat, but opted not to do a thing about it, as he or she continued to watch the fight.

They were the only people nearby. She couldn't locate her friends in the vicinity. And even as she stretched her senses, she couldn't sense them anywhere. They couldn't have left without her, without her knowing. They were her friends, and they weren't the type of people to just leave her alone in the forest, they wouldn't even leave a fire bender, if he needed help, behind, even before the war had ended. If they could help it, they would help anyone, then and now. Besides, she would have known if that big fuzz ball (2) left the ground. He does push down before taking off, and she would have felt it.

Something weird was going on. Something she couldn't 'see'. Something happened and she didn't notice it. It was so frustrating to be reminded that she didn't know something simply because she couldn't see the conventional way.

'That's it. I'm going to get some answers.'

She hoped that maybe one of the three fighting was Aang, while Sokka and Katara were riding Appa in the air. But she knew that it was unlikely. Sokka and Katara weren't the type to run away. Katara was a water bender; she was fully capable of taking care of herself. Sokka isn't any kind of bender, but being the warrior that he claims to be, he would rather be caught dead than retreating while Aang fought alone. That and he's a pretty decent fighter, once in a while.

The war was long over, peace reigning supreme over the whole world once again, but there were still the random people who would try something. Even after five years everyone was still weakened from the war, having lost a lot after a hundred years, give or take a few. It would be a bigger surprise if no one tried anything to take advantage of the situation. This trip of theirs was a mixture of helping Aang keep the peace, as well as getting together and enjoying the good times, without having to worry about a war that had seemed almost impossible to win.

As she neared the clearing where the people were fighting, she could hear a clash of metal; and unless Aang was borrowing one of Sokka's weapons, those people weren't here friends.

"Tch, dobe. (3)"

"Shut up, teme (4)!"

The two fighting were men; the first sounded arrogant, and condescending. He sounded like he was winning too. The second sounded frustrated, but he also sounded happy. It was completely weird. He was insulted but he seemed to enjoy the interaction. He was excited from the fight, they both were. She could tell from their heartbeats, as it shook their bodies in the tiniest vibration and having it relayed through the ground and straight to her bare feet.

Then something completely unexpected happened.

"Kage Buushin no Jutsu (5)!" the weird man shouted.

And she was almost thrown off her feet from surprise, when she felt another five pairs of feet suddenly appear on the ground.

'What the hell? How is that possible?' She stopped walking closer, waiting somewhere far behind from where she deduced the kage buushins of the weird man stood, which may have been the biggest mistake she made all day, other than wandering away from her friends.

She heard the clinking of metal, before hearing a sudden **_poof_**.

"Shimatta (6)! Watch out!"

Before she could react, or even think about what was happening, she sensed someone running toward her, picking her up princess style, and carrying her away. A few seconds later, she heard the sound of metal embedding into the trunk of the tree that stood right behind her previous position.

"Hey, are you alright?"

It was a calmer voice that spoke to her this time. It was strong and deep. It didn't belong to the other person watching the fight. She had felt him coming from a different direction. She didn't even sense the man until he had scooped her away from the danger. Rather than being surprised at this man's speed, Toph was irritated. She wasn't a princess that needed rescuing. What's worse is that the man didn't seem like he was planning on putting Toph back down on the ground any time soon. It wasn't that she didn't like the warm breath near her ear, or the steady beating of his heart under the palm of her hand, or the firm hand that supported her lower back.

What she didn't like was that, while being held, with her feet _off_ the ground, she really was blind. She couldn't see without her feet or any part of her body firmly connected to the ground, and she suddenly felt like the invalid that her family had seen her as, before she proved to them that she could be as strong as any person who could see. She was vulnerable, and being the fiercely independent person that she is, she turned that fear into annoyance.

"Can you put me down now?" She asked rather rudely, immediately forgetting that this man had just saved her life.

The man tensed, almost embarrassed for still holding onto to her, or maybe because he wasn't prepared for that kind of reaction. He almost nodded, forgetting that the lightness of her eyes didn't signify her as a Hyuuga, it marked her as sightless. Still he complied with her request.

Once Toph's bare feet touched the ground, she almost sighed in relief. She could 'see' again. Taking advantage of regaining her own unique ability to 'see', she used it to figure out who else was present. There were the two men who were fighting from before approaching them, her and her rescuer, as well as the person who was watching the fight. Judging from the person's footfalls, the observer was a woman. She was not only light on her feet; she was also very graceful, just like Katara and every other woman she had ever met. There were two others, another man and woman, both walking from the same direction in which her rescuer came.

"Oi! You alright?" shouted the weird man. His voice sounded obnoxious and hyper, even after his spar had probably ended in a tie.

He was definitely different.

While his companions walked at a slow pace toward her, the weird man jogged, and she got the strange impression that he was waving his arms like some crazy bird flapping its wings.

"Sure", she drawled, her sarcasm kicking in. "Considering I was almost impaled."

Old habits die hard.

She couldn't help it, all the feelings that she worked on changing, when she was with her friends, were all coming back to her. After all, she wasn't with her friends. She was surrounded by strangers, who, she could feel, already began to pity her condition.

She had been bitter and sarcastic when she had first met her friends as well, because their initial reactions were just like this. Except for Aang, he was too enthralled from her earth bending that he didn't think of her as blind, just different. For that she was grateful. She won't admit it, but that was the reason why she agreed to become his teacher, to travel with him, and to help him fight the fire nation. She wanted freedom too, but she found she appreciated it more with friends who didn't think that she was crippled. It didn't take long for her to be viewed as a capable earth bender in front of her friends. They'd almost forget that she was blind at all, considering the way they talk to her about events, and the way they walk with her, not worrying that she'll run into something. Sometimes there was the careless remark that reminds her that she is blind, but they always say sorry and move on to another topic, neither wanting to dwell on it.

She could feel the disapproving stare of her rescuer, and if her eyes worked like they were meant to, the first thing she would see was the frown of the man in front of her. The others seemed to feel the same way. They didn't like her attitude, but she didn't care. She never did. She wouldn't give these people a second thought once she found Aang and the others. At least that was what she thought until the weird man spoke up.

"Hehe, yea. Sorry about that." He sounded embarrassed, rather than offended by her sarcastic reply. For the second time today, this man was able to _almost_ knock Toph off her feet. Like she would voluntarily take her feet off the ground, for Toph, it would have been similar to wanting to be blind. Obviously she didn't.

"What's your name?" She asked him.

There was a pause, almost as if the man didn't expect her to ask that kind of question.

She could feel the huge grin spreading on his face.

"The name is Uzumaki Naruto." He said his name proudly, even though she has never heard of him before or of his family. Coming from a high class family, she needed to know all kinds of important snobs. But this Naruto made her feel like she should know who he was, that he was important. He was definitely different.

"And you are?" came the calm voice of her rescuer. She had almost forgotten about him.

Almost.

"Well it would be more polite for everyone else to introduce themselves first, wouldn't it?" After a split second, Toph added, "Stiff stick. (7)"

She thought it was a fitting name for this faceless person. The way he planted his feet on the ground told Toph that he was standing erect, and the way he spoke to her with that calm voice, was so formal.

Even though the man made no impression that he was affected by the nickname, Toph knew otherwise. She didn't need to see him to know he already hated it. She could tell from the way he stood even straighter, if that was possible. The light shift probably went unseen by everyone else, but Toph didn't need to see it.

She could hear Naruto snickering.

"Hyuuga, Neji." He finally replied, after glaring at Naruto, his pale eyes watching the young woman before. She stood still, having no reaction to his name. But that wasn't what he was looking for.

After what seemed like forever, the others approached the three. But they stayed quiet, wondering if they should make their presence known to the blind woman before them, before introducing themselves.

"Well I did mean for all of you to introduce yourselves." She said annoyed because she knew what they were thinking. They thought that she couldn't see them, so she didn't know that they were there.

They were surprised but they quickly regained composure.

"My name is Haruno, Sakura." Said the girl, who had been observing Naruto's fight. Her voice was strong yet at the same time, very girly.

"Uchiha, Sasuke", proclaimed the very haughty voice that Naruto was fighting earlier. He said his name with pride as well, only he seemed more arrogant about it. He sounded a bit peeved that his fight ended so soon.

"I am Rock, Lee, the second greatest beast of Konoha", yelled a really enthusiastic, male voice. He didn't sound assertive like when Snoozles (8) was trying to tell her that he was the greatest warrior of the water tribe. He sounded like he really was what he claimed to be. Nevertheless he was still as goofy sounding as Sokka.

She could almost hear everyone else groan from his declaration.

"And my name is Ten Ten." Replied the last girl in the group. She sounded almost like Katara. Her voice was sweet and sugary. Toph was tempted to call her Sugar Queen (9), but decided against it. The name belonged to her first and only best friend. She couldn't give it away. But that didn't mean she couldn't make a modification.

"Fine. Call me Toph." She said.

"Nice to meet you Toph-chan." Was the immediate reply of Naruto. "And sorry again. I swear, if I knew you were behind me I wouldn't have dodged the shuriken."

She nodded thinking about the other ways he could have handled the projectiles. 'Are they benders?'

"How did you know that we were here too?" asked Sakura. She was confused. She recognized the lightness in Toph's eyes, the blank stare she had, and how her gaze looked as though she was looking through you.

Sure, she could have mistaken those eyes for those of a Hyuuga, but her pale green eyes didn't look like they were ever used; the way the girl's bangs attempted to cover them, the way she didn't move her gaze, or the way she didn't try and observe the people in front of her. She didn't need her medic skills to tell her that Toph was blind. But then how did she know that there were other people present? It couldn't be because Toph heard them approach. They were trained shinobi, silent and deadly.

She understood that Toph heard Sasuke-kun and Naruto while they were fighting, and then there was Neji who had saved her. She could have excused it that maybe Toph was only referring to Sasuke-kun to introduce himself, but she had said everyone. And she didn't seem surprised when she heard the others speak. She knew that they were there. This woman knew that there were others standing around her, and most likely, the young woman knew where each of them stood as well. It seemed far-fetched that a blind woman would be capable of this type of perception, but after years of training with Kakashi as her jounin sensei, she really did look underneath the underneath.

Toph smirked at the question. She had been anticipating that question; she wanted to show these people what she was made of. Even after all these years she was still proud to show off her abilities. Maybe she could be a little mysterious about it too.

"Because I can see." Her answer was short and concise, if not confusing. She wasn't trying to convince them; she just stated it, as though it was normal.

'I wonder if they'll actually fall for it.' She thought.

The earth bender had never tried to fool people into thinking that she could see with her eyes before, because everyone knew she was blind before she even said anything. She deduced it had something to do with her appearance. She vaguely wondered which of her features was the big tip-off.

"Honto (10)? And here I thought you were blind. Sorry again."

"She is blind, dobe." Sasuke said. He had no clue what this girl was doing in Konoha. She wasn't a kuinochi (11), for Konoha or any village, in fact. It would be pretty hard to fight without being able to see. But there was something off about her.

She was confident.

A trait he was willing to bet that not many people with the same handicap had. Though he would never admit it, Sasuke was intrigued with the woman before him.

Naruto growled.

"But," Ten Ten hesitated. She didn't know how to approach the woman before her without offending her. They all knew she was blind, with maybe the exception of Naruto, but they didn't know how she would react. Toph had a pretty rotten attitude, but she probably had it tough, like other people she knew. "You. . . I mean your-…"

"You don't use your eyes." Sasuke was irritated with the hesitation. He didn't care if he hurt the girl's feelings. He never did before, and right now it mattered even less when he was looking for answers.

Toph smirked. A blunt, brooding 'princess', Sasuke definitely reminded her of someone she knew. (12)

"Well I didn't say that I could see with my eyes. I use earth bending to feel the vibrations in the ground." She explained.

"Earth . . . bending?" Sakura let the unfamiliar word roll off her tongue.

"Yea, you know. Manipulating the earth?" She said it as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, but of course, Naruto ignored that condescending tone.

"Wow, you can do that?! Sugoi (13)! Demo (14), you call it earth bending?" Naruto looked thoughtful, pausing to signal to Toph that he really was thinking about what she had explained. "That's a strange name for a jutsu. What kind of kunoichi are you?"

"What? I'm not a kunoichi. I'm an earth bender. Would you like me to spell it out for you? Earrrr-th –beee-nd-eeerr", she drawled. "You act as if you've never heard of an earth bender before."

A short pause, and a feeling of cold dread hit her system, and she asked, "You do know about earth benders, right?"

Everyone looked around at the other, thinking someone must have encountered an earth bender at least once on a mission. Unfortunately, everyone drew up blanks. Was there such a thing as an Earth bender?

Naruto voiced their thoughts in the simplest reply. "Nope, first I've heard of one."

Toph panicked. She took a deep breath; she didn't want to lose her cool in front of strangers. "Well, that's . . . understandable. There are a few places that don't have earth benders, but at least you've know about the Avatar and the War that recently ended with the Fire Nation, right?"

She wanted them to agree with her, and put her fears to rest. Some people don't need to know about benders to know about the War that affected the whole world. Maybe they should, but Toph would criticize them once they agreed. They had to know about the war; it wasn't something that suddenly slipped their minds. There were very few people who weren't involved in the war, and even less that weren't affected by it.

Upon the mention of the war, everyone became tense, but for a different reason than that of Toph's.

"Do you mean the war that almost broke out among the hidden villages?" Ten Ten asked.

Everyone knew about the war that almost broke out, the one that the Akatsuki had been planning by capturing and extracting the demons from the Jinchuuriki (15). Of course they would know about the almost Fourth Shinobi War (16), since it hit a little close to home. Nevertheless, one Jinchuuriki in particular put a stop to those plans a few years ago. Supposedly, the woman was talking about a war that never happened.

The earth began to shake beneath her feet, as Toph refrained from stomping in frustration. For an Earth bender, stomping wasn't as simple as stamping her feet into the ground. If she did that, the ground within a two mile radius of her would have been completely crushed. But it was so frustrating. She was getting the reactions that she expected, tense and uncomfortable silence about a war where someone might have lost someone, but the problem was that they were talking about two different wars.

'How could they not know about the war with the Fire Nation? Those pyros had close to one hundred years to make an impression on just about anyone.' Thought Toph.

"Wait", she spoke aloud now, "What the hell do you mean by hidden villages? Where am I?"

"You are in Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves." Neji answered her question. She wasn't from around here. "Located in the Fire _Country_."

"You have got to be kidding me."

To be continued.

Please Review!!

Glossary:

Twinkle-Toes- Toph's nickname for Aang

fuzz ball- Toph's nickname for Appa

Dobe- Sasuke's nickname for Naruto

Teme- Naruto's nickname for Sasuke

Kage Buushin no Jutsu- Naruto's infamous shadow clone jutsu

Shimatta- I think it is Japanese for "shit" or "no way", something like that.

Stiff Stick- Toph's new nickname for Neji.

Snoozles- Toph's nickname for Sokka

Sugar Queen- Toph's nickname for Katara

Honto- Japanese for "really"

Kuinochi- female shinobi

The brooding princess- Toph is referring to Zuko

Sugoi- Japanese for "cool"

Demo- Japanese for "but"

Jinchuuriki- the name of a demon vessel

The fourth Shinobi War- I made this up because the last shinobi war was the third one, the one that Kakashi fought in.

Please Review!!

What to review about you wonder?

--Well suggestions on pairings would be great. I really don't know who to pair her up with or anyone else for that matter

--Nicknames for the other people she'll meet

--And anything else that deserves my attention.

Thanks! Ja Ne.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks so much for the reviews!! You have no idea how happy I was to receive them and I will take some of your suggestions to heart. Honest!! My first reviewers are important to me.

And to clear something up before continuing, Avatar is Korean(Sorry) and Naruto is Japanese, that's why there are a lot of differences: Martial Arts vs. Taijutsu and Chi vs. Chakra.

Chi is life energy that connects people to nature and the elements, thus bending is born.

Chakra is a different type of energy that people can manipulate using hand seals and such.

I kinda made it up cause i thought it would be more interesting this way. Not claiming anything!!

I don't own Naruto or Avatar: the last Airbender.

* * *

It shouldn't be so hard for her to believe. 

She had seen it all.

There were crazier things that happened. For example, the crazy snake Sannin that wanted immortality, the sealing of demons into children, the amount of ramen Naruto inhaled, the ability to kill people just by looking at them, at this, Tsunade was referring to the Mangekyou Sharingan, how Hyuuga Neji was blessed with incredible hair, the frightening resemblance between Maito, Gai and Rock Lee, who weren't even related, Sakura's really pink hair and so much more that she had seen in her sixty year lifespan.

Actually, she started witnessing all this extreme phenomena, after she agreed to become the Godaime Hokage. So all this madness existed for six years, but it felt like an eternity.

This was one of those moments were she wondered how her life would have turned out if she didn't accept the position as Hokage, kept gambling, shirking debts, kept her hemophobia and everything that had to do with her life before an annoying, blond gaki appeared.

She grimaced.

She may complain about having one hell of a position, but she wouldn't trade it for the world, not yet anyway. She'll let Naruto take over later. Soon all this stress would be his. He wanted it so much, and she'd be glad to give it to him.

Unfortunately, the gaki still had a few more things to learn before she could pass him the position. As a result, this present issue was something that she had to deal with. Mentally groaning, she turned back to the subject at hand.

The fact that there was a girl from a different dimension sitting in her office shouldn't have been a difficult concept to grasp.

Maybe it was the fact that this blind girl was supposedly one of the strongest 'fighters', if one could call an earthbender that, from her dimension. Actually that wasn't so hard to believe. A great shinobi should be capable of utilizing his other senses. He shouldn't wholly trust his eyes, and that was what this girl, Toph, does. Given she couldn't use her eyes in the first place.

"Shizune, bring in Shikamaru and Sasuke." She had forced everyone to leave so that she could converse with the girl privately. If she was going to learn more about this girl, she needed her to be comfortable.

Especially since Sakura threw a fit when Toph called her 'a poodle-monkey'(1), whatever that was, after Sakura told Toph some tips to take better care of her hair, so it would turn out smoother, like hers. Sakura was ready to pound the girl into the ground, but Tsunade stopped her, and sent everyone out. She really didn't want her top student to pound the girl. She could've been royalty for all she knew! (2) Then everything would've turned ugly from there.

"Girl, show me what you've got." Seeing was believing.

Toph smirked, "I thought you'd never ask."

First things first, she was going to see what this girl was capable of. If this girl is as strong as she says she is, then she would need to be looked at as a potential enemy or ally.

Hopefully, she wasn't that strong. Tsunade didn't want to deal with a new threat, after only two years of peace. (3)

* * *

When Sasuke and Shikamaru arrived at the office, everyone moved outside. They looked for a clearing where they wouldn't cause too much damage to the village, under Toph's insistence. 

Toph could feel herself shaking with excitement. She had been itching for a good fight for a while, but the straggling rebels back in her world weren't much fun. After two seconds after seeing the Avatar, they would surrender. They didn't even try some pathetic trick on her even though, they knew she was blind. Either they were too scared to notice or she was as famous as the Avatar. Knowing her friends, actually just Sokka, he probably bragged about their gang to anyone who was willing to listen. And since he traveled with the Avatar, everyone was willing to listen.

She was definitely glad that no one was underestimating her any longer, but she couldn't help but miss surprising people. Feeling the nervous shift in the vibrations as well as the quickened heartbeat out of fear from her opponents was always a plus.

'I'm not that much of a sadist.' Toph thought evilly, 'Just an optimist.' Of course any one who knew Toph would know that sarcasm and optimism didn't mix at all.

Once they stopped, Toph 'looked' at her surroundings. Three of the people she met stood off to the side, while her opponent stood opposite her in the clearing. Shizune was a nice woman who worked for the 'old hag' that Naruto was referring to. It was strange, she didn't sound old. (4) Shizune was nice, if not awkward about Toph's blindness. But Toph didn't mind, she was used to it. She didn't know anyone who didn't feel uncomfortable with her blindness. It didn't make her any different, but try telling that to everyone else. After years of getting frustrated with human nature, Toph just settled for ignoring it. As a result of who she was; the uneasiness never lasted once they realized what she was capable of.

The other new guy, Shikamaru, was plain weird. He was annoyed with being interrupted from watching the clouds, big fluffy non-living things in the sky that Katara described to her once. His footsteps were painfully slow and sluggish, which contrasted greatly to the other shinobi that she met. She could sense the waves of laziness rolling off of him. She would've underestimated him greatly if not for the fact that he seemed to demand respect for the simple fact that the Hokage, Tsunade, leader of the whole village, wanted him present. Only a few people were going to be present and that stressed how important they were.

'I wonder why Naruto isn't here. . .' Toph momentarily thought. She had to admit, he was a mixture of Sokka and Aang. Goofy and innocent. There was more to him than he let on and Toph knew. She felt drawn to him; he was just like the guys. They were her closest friends, so she wasn't surprised if she was crushing on a guy who reminded her of them. But just like her closest friends, he was probably already taken, by some nice and sweet lady that Toph wouldn't have the heart to resent. Just like Suki and Katara.

Tsunade, standing with the other two was one tough broad. She already knew she liked this woman when she demanded the other shinobi, the ones her age, out of the office, so she and Toph could speak alone. Everything about her screamed strength and wisdom; her stance, her steps, her voice, and her presence would've made a lesser man cower in fear.

And last but not least was Sasuke. She was fighting him, and judging from his stance, he wasn't underestimating her. 'Too bad, can't give the brooding man a surprise, if he had been expecting less.'

For Sasuke, this was a chance to learn about the strange girl that had the nerve to poke fun at Sakura, call Neji a guy with a stick up his butt, but with fewer words, and finally see without really seeing.

He was intrigued. He was one of the many shinobi who depended on their eyesight. The Kekkai Genkai, (5) the Sharingan also made his eyes that much more valuable. So valuable, in fact, he had the proof on his neck that signified how coveted the Sharingan really was.

He shuddered when unwanted memories began to resurface. Unfortunately for him, Toph noticed.

She smirked. "What? Afraid to fight a little girl?"

Sasuke looked at the woman a few feet away from him and narrowed his eyes. He knew she couldn't see it, so he added more intensity to make sure the smart mouth could feel it.

Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect. Toph's smirk grew. She was affecting him, and the cold glare proved it. She was going to revert back to her methods of fighting when she was the Blind Bandit (6). She almost sighed at the memory. If Aang hadn't beaten her she would've had one hell of a winning streak. Figures that the Avatar was able to use her biggest weakness against her, without even knowing it.

"Hey _sourpuss _(7), if you're done brooding, let's get this fight started."

Sasuke growled rather loudly, while everyone else took another step back. She was pissing off the cranky Uchiha, with a very fitting nickname. Just what is she up to?

One more button to push. "Come on, I probably wouldn't be waiting this long if I was fighting Naruto."

If Toph's assumption was correct, Naruto and Sasuke were rivals, and this would set him over the edge. Unfortunately for Toph, Sasuke realized what she was up to.

He was a Jounin, an Uchiha. He wouldn't fall for such tricks. He was in control of his emotions, and therefore, Toph couldn't manipulate him into blindly attacking her just because she seriously bruised his pride.

It was time he turned the tables.

"Why? Would you prefer to fight that dobe because you have a crush on him?"

"What the hell?" Toph sputtered. She was completely caught off guard. Everyone always walked into her verbal traps. 'Damn, I shouldn't have underestimated him.'

"Is it because you like him so much that you didn't want to give him one of your ridiculous nicknames, Toph-chan?"

Toph could feel heat rise in her cheeks, and she could tell Sasuke noticed because he started chuckling. Toph was embarrassed, and she wasn't sure it was because he caught her little crush, or because he called her 'Toph-chan'.

Completely ignoring the fact that he just used her own tricks to force her to make the first move, Toph stomped her foot into the ground and pulled her arms back. The ground beneath Sasuke turned to quicksand.

Toph smirked when she caught . . . a log? (8) 'What the hell? When did he move?'

Toph concentrated on the ground; she felt the familiar vibrations of the three people watching the fight. She searched for any other vibrations that would signify where the sourpuss was hiding.

Metal sliced air. Toph reacted quickly, raising her arms to create a shield made of rock. Three satisfying thuds embedded themselves into the hard earth. From the direction that the projectiles came from, she realized that Sasuke was hiding in a tree behind her.

She waited for his next move. She had no idea what he was capable of.

Red Sharingan eyes watched the girl on the ground, lower her rock shield. Her movements were strange, and she didn't use hand seals. What was stranger was that she didn't use chakra. His Sharingan would have been able to see traces of it, unlike the Byakugan which would've seen if she was using chakra at all.

He stared at the place where the log had sunk into the ground. If he was still a genin he would definitely got caught by that same trick that Kakashi pulled on him long ago. This time he held back shuddering. Apparently this girl could tell somehow. He recalled her saying before about vibrations and the earth. He was going to find out more later, right now he had to find a way to test her.

'Well any hope of copying her is shot.' Sasuke thought. 'Genjutsus (9) won't work on her because she won't be able to see them. And I shouldn't use any of my stronger jutsus.' There was no way he would feel good about hurting a blind girl.

He looked up in time to see the boulder coming straight for him. He jumped out of the line of fire and landed on the ground.

He glared at the smirking offender. "How did you know I was there?"

"Please, I could smell your stench a mile away." Toph replied.

Sasuke's glare only grew in intensity. Forget his last thought.

He created the necessary hand seals.

Shizune's eyes widened when she recognized the seals. "Tsunade-sama," she said urgently. She turned to look at her sensei. Tsunade had a calm look as she watched the fight in front of her. She made no move to stop Sasuke, and Shizune had no choice but to follow her example.

According to the brat, she knew how to deal with fire, as well as many of the elements. Tsunade personally wanted to see if this girl was telling the truth.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" (10) Sasuke shouted before breathing out a ball of fire.

'Shoot, fire!' Toph, completely familiar with firebending, knew how to avoid getting scorched. She moved her foot forward and twisted her ankle so that the side of her foot was parallel to her body, and pulled her arms to her side, above her head. The outcome was a wedge that formed in front of her to cut through the fire.

'Is it possible for this fire to be hotter than normal?' (11) Toph wondered as sweat poured down her forehead. She shook the thought from her head, excusing it to be the result of the huge gap in time since she actually fought a firebender.

When it was over, Toph was sucking in the cool air greedily, while the damn Uchiha stood smirking. She heard the light and arrogant 'humph', that he made and it pissed her off to no end. She suddenly remembered why she hated fighting firebenders; they messed with the air and her sense of smell.

When she was done, she quickly moved to another stance; there was no way she was going to let it end this way. Even better, he was underestimating her now, since he let his stance relax _slightly_.

She summoned a slab of rock that went flying in Sasuke's direction, he dodged, moving into the position that Toph was hoping for, and immediately slammed a pole made of earth, from the ground, into Sasuke's stomach.

He wheezed and Toph smirked at being able to regain the upper hand.

"Alright, that's enough." Tsunade interrupted the fight. They seemed to be enjoying the fight a bit too much. She chose to end it before they ended up hurting each other more than necessary. She and Shikamaru had seen enough of Toph's techniques anyway. She could manipulate the earth, she was familiar with elemental attacks, and her sight was a weakness as well as strength. She was a long to medium range fighter, so chances are, she wasn't skilled in taijutsu.

Shikamaru had decided that if worse comes to worse, and she did turn out to be an enemy, he could use his kagemane no jutsu (12) to stop her. She couldn't see, so the Nara clan and Yamanaka clan had an advantage to prevent her from harming them, if necessary.

"Sasuke, go home. You have guard duty tomorrow." Ever since he had come back, it was hard to give him any important missions. His betrayal was still a sore spot, no matter how many people tried to forget or overlook it. But he acted real mature about it, at least in front of some people, he played it off as if it was alright and it didn't bother him. But it did and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Hn", was his only replay before walking off. He nodded goodbye, not really caring whether or not Toph saw it. She seriously knocked the air out of him and he'd rather die than let her know that. Not trusting his voice to actually say something, he just left, ignoring Toph's snickering.

She knew the last attack hurt him more than he let on because she could feel his uneven breathing. Proud to show up the stuck-up Uchiha, she stood straighter and waited for the verdict. Toph wasn't stupid. She knew this was a test to see what kind of threat she posed, and if they could handle her. Seeing as how Tsunade made her go back to the office with her, she must have barely passed their standards.

* * *

Tsunade sighed. What was she going to do? Toph was strong, too strong to leave alone, but most shinobi were busy, especially those in the Nara and Yamanaka clan. Ino was traveling to Wave country and Shikamaru needed to be present for the meeting with Suna's ambassador. 

Then there was the fact that she already needed to look over thousands of mission reports, assigning the missions to particular shinobi, hand out more missions, and receive mission requests, be it from the villagers of Konoha, or from neighboring villages. There were just so many missions.

But it wouldn't hurt to give out one more.

'Let's have a look see at who's available.'

She took a list of all available shinobi. She completely disregarded the list of genins, because it didn't seem like a good idea to leave this disrespectful gaki with a bunch of kids. Then there was the fact that if this girl turned out to be an enemy, a team of genins wouldn't be able to handle her.

A chuunin may have been able to watch over the girl, but Tsunade knew better than to underestimate the girl. She was able to catch the uptight Uchiha off guard. She didn't want any mistakes the first time, and considering how long it would be before she would find any scrolls on alternate dimensions, she needed to find a baby-sitter who could handle Toph for a long period of time.

'Guess I'll have to use one of my jounins.' She looked through the list, skimming for names that might be able to handle a girl who could see all around her, like a Hyuuga, yet completely unlike a Hyuuga.

Speaking of Hyuugas, Neji doesn't seem to have any missions, and he just finished his break. There was no way she was going to let the shy Hinata watch over the rude Toph. Besides, Neji could handle her nasty attitude, they have already met, and he could definitely keep an eye on her. No pun intended.

To Be Continued

* * *

How'd ya like it? Please review. 

Pairings you'll find out some next chapter. This isn't a Naruto/Toph fic, sorry, I don't think I can write it. But I'm still considering pairings! So please review, don't forget to suggest nicknames. Thanks so much for the reviews, they were really helpful, but I kinda strayed from some of the suggestions I know. I couldn't help it.

Glossary:

A poodle-monkey is one of the many wacky animals in the avatar world

Toph was born into a high class society, but Tsunade doesn't know that, she was just making a worst case scenario.

All the problems mentioned in the manga supposedly ended 2 years ago, unless I decide some of the psychos are still alive.

Tsunade uses a genjutsu to make herself younger but everything else about doesn't make her seem old. I don't know how Toph can see past this kind of genjutsu, so I'm letting her play along. Otherwise she doesn't fall for any of them.

Kekkai Genkai-bloodline limit

Toph's alter ego before meeting up with the gang

Sasuke's nickname courtesy of Toph

Kawamiri no justu- substitution technique

Genjutsus don't work on Toph; she can't see it to be tricked. She can feel the truth. Also I'm refering to the basics such as buushins. (thats what i think anyway)

Katon . . . The great fireball technique, if you know any other techniques that I should know, I'd be grateful for the lessons.

Tip the fire is hotter, since it isn't "natural" its chakra created. I'll have Neji explain my ideas to her in the next chapter.

Shikamaru's infamous Shadow imitation technique.

Again Please Review!

PS i know Sasuke is tougher than that but the objective was to test Toph, not actually beat her. Hence Tsunade stopping the fight early before both of them beat the crap out of each other.

Ja.


	3. Chapter 3

SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT!! IT'S FINALLY UP!

I'm prone to writer's block so please be patient with me. . .

Thanks so much for the reviews. I really didn't think I would get this many reviews so soon, but thank you! Everything that was mentioned was seriously taken into account.

First: Due to newly received evidence that proves that I'm as knowledgeable as Naruto in matters of Genjutsu, I recant all my assertions that Toph is immune to Genjutsu, except buushins. She can't see those kinds of illusions therefore she can't be tricked by them.

Second: Chi versus Chakra! Lol. I've been mulling over this for days! Chakra is something acquired. Shinobi can train to increase their chakra reserves. It's a mixture of Spiritual and physical energies. (My reason why Sasukes fire jutsu was hotter than normal fire, more chakra, therefore more heat. Makes sense to me.) Basically Chakra comes from within. Chi exists in every living thing, but benders are born with the ability to manipulate the chi in the elements. Chi is restrictive while chakra is broad.

Chakra is a mixture of spiritual and physical energy. Chi is purely spiritual energy.

If the above still makes no sense ask yourself this question. If Benders used chakra to manipulate the elements then it would be possible for i.e.: An earthbender to manipulate i.e.: fire, thus negating the existence of the Avatar. If Toph could use Chakra then what explains why she can't also manipulate the other elements?

If Benders use chakra then who's to say that Kakashi isn't the Avatar? He can manipulate all five elements, some more than others but still, the point is there is a line that separates benders from Shinobi, and I guess this is where I drew it.

Well, on with the story. Also there is no official pairings as of yet because, like a suggestion I received, I'm going to let it play out. Most of the requests were Gaara and Neji, so I'll put together some situations where they might fall for her. Now, that's all I'm telling you, find out the rest later.

Disclaimer: I Don't Own Naruto or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

* * *

"Hai, Hokage-sama", the reply was monotonous; a phrase that rolled off his tongue easily. What else could he say? Neji wasn't as brave, or stupid, enough to piss of the Godaime Hokage as Naruto. It wasn't his place.

He was a shinobi. His only goal was to complete the missions assigned by his superior, the Hokage. Regardless of how he felt about the matter.

It didn't matter that he would rather train with Gai than baby-sit a blind, sarcastic girl. He was a jounin; an elite ninja, but even jounin had to deal with brats. It just wasn't _that_ part of the position that he wanted.

"It's a B-class mission, don't sound too excited." The last part was dripping with sarcasm.

Then the Godaime suddenly became very serious. "She isn't from this world, you can ask her about it, but she's a fighter. She doesn't look like much but she can manipulate the earth. If she becomes too much to handle, you can immobilize her. Her abilities seem to be the result of her movements."

'Close off some tenketsus to take care of her. Why not just do that now instead?'

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Came the flawless reply instead. No need to make things any harder. It seems the Godaime's mind is already made up. Any attempt to pass this mission on to someone else would result in an unnecessary argument on what would seem to be the best form of action, only for the Hokage to assert the power of her position, and say, more or less, 'Momma knows best'.

"You only need to take care of her until we find out more of how she came to this universe and the best way to get her back."

Makes sense. She doesn't belong here. We need to send her back. We can't leave her unsupervised due to psychos running around. We just don't know how long it will take.

At this, Neji restrained from sighing. He was the Hyuuga genius. His abilities were meant for more that babysitting, it was for S-class missions, dealing with missing-nins and maybe training. Anything was better than this.

Well except for the tidbit where the Hokage kept trying to assign him a genin team. Seriously, there was nothing for him to teach. At least with this mission, the Hokage could hold off on trying to give him a cell from the upcoming graduates this year.

A flash of dark bangs covering pale green eyes, flashed in his vision momentarily.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." This better be worth it.

* * *

Toph was officially bored. She stood outside of the Hokage's office, while she and stiff-stick were discussing something. Most likely her. And she couldn't do a damn thing. She already tried listening in, but the stuff that the door was made of, was pretty thick. It betrayed none of the exchange that was happening within the room. And of course, she already tried to manipulate some of the materials in the door; to let her listen in, but it seemed that the door was specifically made to block eavesdroppers. It was as if it was _sealed shut_.

'I don't need a baby sitter.'

They just wouldn't leave her alone. For the rest of her time here, she was going to be under constant surveillance. Sure it was reasonable and she could understand their caution, but did it have to be so damn obvious.

If Toph could see, she would see that there was no one in the hallway with her. She was completely alone here. But since she could _see_, she knew that someone was watching her from the tree outside the window across from her.

Firstly, because she was a potential threat, there was no possible way that they would leave her alone. Secondly she could feel the vibrations coming from the tree right outside, that someone was hiding there. Third, she could feel their eyes on her. They could at least be subtle about it. She wasn't stupid enough not to feel eyes on her. Her whole life, people stared openly at her. Sure she was blind, but she could still _feel_.

She gritted her teeth. She spent years trying to get away from this kind of supervision.

"What the hell do you want?" This guy shows up out of, literally no where, and he suddenly decides to _study_ Toph.

Again, rather than be shocked with a shinobi's speed and agility, she was pissed with her train of thought. 'I can take care of myself.'

The newcomer, a man whose expression she could not see, made no movements to demonstrate that he heard her.

She could feel herself being picked apart by this man's scrutiny.

"Who the hell are you?" She was getting really pissed. They just wouldn't leave her alone, and they kept bothering her while she was least expecting them as well. The ground rumbled, matching the anger that was bubbling inside her.

But still the man beside Toph had no reaction. He continued with his observation until finally, Neji appeared. He seemed a bit shocked to see the man beside her, but he calmed himself.

"Toph-san, Kazekage-sama, it seems you have already met." Tsunade said from the door of her office. She also seemed to be surprised to see him.

He just remained quiet, but at least his attention was turned away from Toph.

"Hokage-sama", Gaara said respectfully, while inclining his head. He was slightly miffed from the interruption, but he wasn't going to hold it against the Hokage, maybe the Hyuuga, but at least he got to learn her name.

Tsunade nodded at the greeting, not expecting much anyway. She got more of a reaction from the stoic Kazekage than most individuals and at least he showed his respect.

"Toph, you will be escorted around the village by Neji. If you need anything, just ask him."

"Sure", Toph said heading toward the exit of the tower, "See you, Boss-Lady." She ignored the waves of anger rolling off the very older woman, and as she passed by the Kazekage, she said, with no attempt to hide the sarcasm dripping off of every word, "Nice talking to you." 'Weirdo', she added silently. She was glad that she didn't have to be alone with him. This guy was unnerving; she had half a mind to use her earthbending and sending this guy flying out of the window. But she didn't. Damn, she was getting too soft; it's all her friends' fault.

"Hurry it up stiff-stick; I'm not going to wait for you."

Neji glared at the back of his most recent problem, before giving up. He was being immature. He just wished that she didn't succeed so often in getting under his skin. He nodded good-bye before following his mission with legs.

Gaara stared down the hall where the cynical woman just disappeared from. He tucked what little information he had about her for later. Right now, he was here to discuss the disturbing rumors that he's been hearing. It could be worthless gossip, but he would rather be safe than sorry.

* * *

Toph smirked when Neji, finally realizing that she meant what she said earlier, had to jog lightly to catch up with her.

"So where to, tour-guide?"

Neji felt his eyebrow twitch. Talk about reminding him of his previous mental tantrum, if one would call it that.

"It doesn't matter, what would you like to s-" He interrupted himself abruptly. He almost forgot that she was blind, since it didn't seem like the most important thing to remember for this mission, but the most significant to know about this person. He mentally berated himself for his mistake.

He looked over to see Toph looking forward as if nothing had happened, she didn't seem fazed with his slight screw-up. Why should she be? Everyone did it. Everyone was able to forget that she was blind, everyone except her.

"Are you hungry, Toph-san?"

Before Toph could reply, the ground relayed to her familiar vibrations, ones that she recognized as belonging to a certain dense and hyper individual. She felt Neji cringe beside her, but she wasn't entirely sure why until. . .

"Oi! Neji! Toph-chan!" Again, Toph had a mental image of a boy waving his arms like a giant bird. Naruto jogged up to the pair and began talking animately. Neji nodded his greeting to the silent woman who followed Naruto.

"My name is Hyuuga Hinata, it's nice to meet you Toph-san." Hinata said politely.

Toph nodded to the silent woman being related to the uptight shinobi beside her, but did no more than that. For one, because she was too quiet, Toph couldn't really pay attention to her. For two, Naruto immediately began chatting up a storm with her.

"Feeling better Toph-chan? See? I told you Tsunade-baachan could help you, even if she's really old and way past her prime, she's pretty tough. So there's no need to be scared!" Naruto exclaimed casually, which irked Toph.

She scowled. "I wasn't scared, I was just alarmed." She didn't need to see the all-knowing grin that spread across Naruto's face to know that he didn't believe her. She felt frustrated. So what if she started a small earthquake when she found out she was in a world that she knew nothing about. She wasn't afraid; fear makes people become irrational. She wasn't irrational; she still had enough sense to listen to Naruto and the others and meet their leader, rather than bury them all into the ground then and there. Speaking of which, the idea became all the more tempting when Naruto continued to speak.

"Well, you did look pretty frightened." Toph felt her eye twitch before she decided to change her stance. She slid her right foot forward slightly and pulled her elbows back. The movement was supposed to be somewhat undetectable, but in a group full of shinobi, Toph could feel all three of the people surrounding her, stiffen. Either they didn't suspect the quicksand in time or didn't feel like helping Naruto before he was swallowed by the ground, because in moments, Naruto ended up neck deep underground. Obviously they knew she was up to something, they saw her act, it was almost like, they knew the attack would have been harmless, and allowed it to happen. Before she could analyze what exactly happened, Naruto made her regret not burying him up to his nose, when he began yelling.

"AH! TOPH-CHAN!! THIS ISN'T VERY NICE!! LET ME GO RIGHT NOW!" Naruto began to wiggle even though it was obvious it wouldn't make much of a difference. He was trapped in solid rock and unless he had the Godaime's super strength, wiggling was a waste of effort.

Feeling better with torturing her reason for humiliation, Toph smirked, "Heh, do I look scared to you now?"

In reply, all Naruto could do was pout. "Hinata-chan!" He whined.

The quiet, young woman who was with Naruto earlier appeared and politely spoke to Toph. "Onegai (1) Toph-san. Naruto is sorry for teasing you. Please let him go."

Hinata's voice was so soft that she almost didn't hear it. Almost. Toph could barely make out what she was trying to say. She could tell that Hinata was a fragile young woman, her footsteps were light but her vibrations were strong. If Toph didn't know any better, she would simply assume that Hinata was weak. Her posture could be better, her heartbeat is rapid, as though she's frightened, she wasn't physically strong, her vibrations 'told' Toph that, and her voice is enough to tell Toph that she is timid and meek. If anything, Toph would immediately dismiss her as weak and worthless, but something stopped her; some small piece of information that made this strange woman intriguing. It was the simple fact that she knew that Naruto cared for her, and Toph could only wonder why.

"Hai, hai! Gomen (2) Toph-chan, demo(3) please let me out!" Naruto continued to squirm.

Toph huffed, no longer caring about her vow of vengeance against the hyper shinobi, and flicked her wrist, releasing Naruto from his rock, solid prison.

"Arigato Toph-chan!" Naruto shouted enthusiastically, completely forgetting that it was because of her that he was in that situation in the first place. "And to show my thanks I'll buy you a bowl of ramen!"

Toph merely shrugged.

"Unless", Instead of seeing the devious smile that spread on his face, Toph noticed the change in Naruto's voice. "You wanted to pay for your date, Neji. Oi! We can double-date!"

The range of emotions from that sentence ranged from slyness, sheer contentment, and utter mortification.

Neji, with any dignity he had left, smacked Naruto up-side the head, in retaliation. Hinata's heartbeat increased and anyone who could, saw that she was as red as a tomato, but held a slight faraway look in her eyes. Toph simply stayed quiet.

'So it was true. This woman is Naruto's girlfriend.' Toph already knew that a man like Naruto would be taken, but she couldn't help but feel a little sad. 'Figures.' But what was strange was his choice in women. At least Katara and Suki are confident with themselves. Hinata was something else entirely.

But this was whatever. Toph could get over this guy, no problem. It had happened before, it didn't matter if it happened again. Who cared about who Naruto chose to be with, if it wasn't her, then it shouldn't matter to her. Why did she care so much? In a few days, Boss-lady would have found enough information for Toph to return home. Romantic attachments would be a waste. She was going to go home soon. She would see Suki with Sokka, Katara with Aang. Heck, she would even see Zuko with that monotone chick, Mai. These people didn't matter to her. Who Naruto chooses to date was none of her business.

This was just how she was, she'd complain about something she knew she couldn't change, and then eventually, she'd just accept it. It was how she became stronger.

"What the hell is ramen?"

Unluckily for Toph, she didn't see the horrified expression on Naruto's face before it changed into one of conviction.

"OI, OLD MAN! THIS ONE NEEDS RAMEN ASAP!" Naruto shouted before grabbing Toph's wrist and dragging her to two feet and shoving her into a stool.

Neji and Hinata could only shake their heads as they followed the other two into the booth. Poor Toph.

* * *

"Yatta! I understand now! Earthbending is like a doton(5) jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Yea, but I don't use chakra." Toph added, slurping loudly on the soup. Neji, as well as many others, looked at her, clearly disgusted with her manners. Hinata merely blushed, and Naruto followed her lead, slurping the remnants of his bowl.

It was weird. These shinobi manipulated the elements differently here. The only restriction to their power was how much chakra they had in order to fight with. Sure, benders get tired from constantly fighting, but Toph had yet to hear about a bender dying because they bended too much. ( here she is referring to chakra exhaustion.) But these shinobi were capable of manipulating any of the elements, like this Kakashi-sensei of Naruto's.

Toph suddenly felt a chill roll up her spine, as if something cold had just passed through her. Even though it was as warm as fire nation right now, she just felt cold. (6)

'That's correct, her chakra system is completely unused, as if she was a normal civilian.' Neji mentally affirmed. He deactivated his byakugan(7), but didn't take his eyes off her. This was information that would be vital later.

"That reminds me!" Naruto shouted, "How do you use earthbending to see, if you're blind?"

"Through my feet." All attention turned to her bare feet placed firmly on the dirt. "Earbending relays vibrations through my feet, so it helps me see. You understand?"

"Uhh, sort of." Naruto said nervously, rubbing the back of his head out of habit. Really this girl was just strange. She had an awesome fighting technique, but he wasn't sure he understood how she could 'see' her enemies. However, she was someone he had to admire. She was like him. She had something that had prevented her from doing great things, something she was born with. But she didn't let it stop her. She not only overcame it, she learned to utilize it. If only she wasn't so cranky. . .

Toph sighed dramatically. "Want a demonstration?"

"Hai!" Naruto said, nodding vigorously.

"Fine. There's someone sitting in the tree over there. He's been watching me since I was brought to the tower, the first time." Toph said nonchalantly, pointing to the tree behind another shop. She could feel the person jump at being pinpointed, before moving to another location, just a little further to her right. Toph didn't feel like pointing out that she could still tell where he was, might as well let them think they have her under control.

The others merely looked on in shock. She had just pinpointed an ANBU, and only Naruto voiced his thoughts.

"Masaka(8)! You just pinpointed the exact location of an ANBU! Some of the most deadly and swift shinobi of Konoha!" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes bugging out for extra emphasize to his disbelief. Regardless if Toph saw it or not, she knew he was doing something that attracted attention to him.

Neji calmed his shocked expression. 'So she already knew about being followed this whole time.' She wasn't someone easily snuck up on.

"How?" Hinata whispered. Although Toph heard her, still being _slightly _immature, chose to ignore her.

"Oi! How did you know he was there?!" Naruto asked again.

"It was his heartbeat. It creates a small but strong vibration that travels through the ground and straight to my feet. That way I can tell where he is." Toph answered Naruto easily.

Neji only narrowed his eyes.

"Wow! That is so sugoi!" Naruto gushed, dreaming about such an awesome power, but her ability was like a Kekkai Genkai. A really cool one, but not something that can be easily obtained.

"I think it's about time we left. It's getting late." Neji stated, getting up and moving away from his barely touched bowl of ramen.

"Sure, stiff-stick, since we have such a tight schedule to keep." Toph said sarcastically, smiling when she heard Naruto snicker.

Neji was shocked to realize how many times in one day that he was able to glare at one person. "Let's go, Toph-san, Hinata-sama."

Toph paused when she realized she was going to be sleeping in the same house as this weirdo, before she got up to stand next to Neji. She had no clue where she was supposed to go and wasn't really interested in getting lost.

Hinata and Naruto got up at the same time to say their good-byes. It was silent for a while before Hinata walked up to stand on the other side of Neji.

Toph, after realizing what the silence had been, could only hope that Boss-Lady found something soon. She didn't want to spend another moment here.

* * *

1-Please

2-Sorry

3-but

4-thank you very much

5-Earth

6-heightened senses

7-hyuuga bloodline limit

8-No way (I think, feel free to correct me)

WARNING: Toph is going to be a bit mean to Hinata, but like everyone else, she'll warm up to her. So don't think I'm bashing on Hinata, I love her too!

PS: I have no clue of a nickname for Naruto! Suggestions please!

To be continued as soon as I can! PROMISE!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Avatar: the Last Airbender

See? No author's notes this time. Enjoy and Review!!

* * *

The next morning, Toph woke on the cold hard floor of the Hyuuga compound. The annoying, chirping birds outside her window were enough proof that today was going to be a nice day. Unless it already was. Not like she cared. She had no sense of time. If her body told her to wake up she would, and if she was tired, she would drop dead. Morning and night meant very little to a person who couldn't see the difference. It wasn't just her earthbending that she relied on, but her instincts as well.

She yawned and stretched, working out the kinks that were the result of curling out on the floor. But it was no different from any other day. She always slept on the floor. She wouldn't risk blinding herself for the comfort of a bed. True, the hardwood floors weren't exactly the 'earth' that she was used to, but it effectively relayed the vibrations she needed. There was no need to complain, but that rarely ever stopped her from doing so anyway.

She ignored the fact that she missed Sokka's and Appa's loud snoring. It was as if they were always competing with each other. If one was loud, the other became louder and so on. Even by this time, Sokka and Appa were usually the last of the group to wake up. Aang would be feeding Momo, while Sugar Queen took on her role as the 'mother hen' and gathered food and water for everyone.

She went to the door and slid it open. It was strange to open these kinds of doors by sliding them rather than pushing and pulling on them. The night before she had almost ripped the screen trying to push the door open, but it mattered very little. If the door 'ripped', she would just demand another room. Like hell was she going to sleep in a room where these weirdoes could see her. Of course she was also ignoring the fact that the reason her door was still intact was because a certain shinobi had placed both hands on her arms, effectively stopping her from making a large hole in the door, without earthbending. As much as Toph hated to admit it, the contact had left Toph tingling. She tried to remember the last time anyone had ever touched her, and that only succeeded in making her think about the time he had held her in his arms, when they had first met. Heat flared up on Toph's face and she took deep breaths to cool down. She hated when people were able to affect her this way. It left her annoyed, as always, and confused.

She tried to reason with herself. 'I'm just not used to being touched, especially twice, in one day, by the same person.' Somehow, it didn't make her feel any better.

Very few people touched Toph, knowing full well that they could be sent flying at any moment. Even Katara was wary about any physical contact with Toph; where the simple gesture of a comforting hand on her shoulder can be easily and rudely shrugged off. She didn't need a helping hand or any sort of sympathy, nor did she want it.

Feeling slightly bad for trying to elbow the stiff-stick last night, the jerk blocked it anyway, Toph left in search of him. She was going to run into him anyway. He was going to be her tour-guide and there was no way she was going to pass up another adventure, no matter how short it may be.

Apparently the sleep did her some good. She was no longer irritated with being stuck in an unfamiliar place, with a bunch of annoying strangers, well not as much. She had always dreamed of 'seeing the world', even if this wasn't exactly what she meant, she would take what was given to her. Maybe she could learn more about this chakra stuff. Using one of those katon jutsus on Zuko would be pretty hilarious.

She stretched her senses, but the only thing that really stuck out was a battle some ways to her left. She could barely tell who was fighting who, but she did recognize the vibrations, meaning she had met them before. That narrowed it down to only three people. And after realizing someone was coming toward her, she knew she could rule out Neji.

She could feel his eyes sweep over her, as if assessing her like that old man, Hinata's father, had done last night.

"Why didn't you bath? You're filthy." Was all Neji said after he took one look at the tattered rag she continued to wear. There was also the smudge on her cheek which was present when he first met her as well.

Toph felt herself twitch. "I'd prefer to call it a healthy coating of earth, is it too much for his royal highness to bear?"

Neji could hear how she was trying to get a rise out of him. Instead he ignored it, as he often does with Naruto and Lee. Instead he asks, "Are you hungry?"

Toph smirked, knowing she won this round, even if the stiff-stick was trying to hide it. She replied "Famished."

'At least her teeth is clean', he thought as he stared at the sly smile that spread out on her face. Neji didn't know how he would react if he had to look at that annoying smirk if it too had a 'healthy coating of earth' as she called it.

"Lead the way, oh wise one." Neji narrowed his eyes as her grin only grew. He swung around, his hair brushing past her face, giving her a small breeze, before calmly walking to the kitchen.

Toph could only snicker, before following the man who was going to 'baby-sit' her.

* * *

After weaving in and out a bunch of twists and turns, Toph realized that Neji was working on going to the place where the old man and Hinata were battling. It was probably a training exercise, but it seemed more serious than that. It really felt like a match to the death and Hinata wouldn't make it, not by a long shot. They stopped in front of the battle and watched, whereas Toph listened, to the fight before her.

Hinata would frequently grunt and gasp, struggling to keep up with the swift and controlled man that she was fighting. But there was no noise from the old man, except when he was barking at Hinata. He was teaching Hinata, and usually, Toph's methods of teaching were fairly brutal, but she found this man was being beyond merciless in training his daughter. She wasn't as vicious as the old man when she had been teaching Aang earthbending.

She felt Neji tense up beside her, and soon she understood why. She felt Hinata slow to a stop, her whole body convulsing from exertion and pain. She didn't see the blow but she felt Hinata's heart almost stop when something foreign entered her system. Hinata fell to her knees and breathed heavily.

"That will be all for today, Hinata. You're dismissed." From the tone of his voice and steadiness of his heartbeat, Toph knew that man felt no sympathy, no remorse for nearly killing his daughter. It was the same cool demeanor that he had regarded Toph with the night before, the face he gives to complete strangers whom he deems unworthy of his time.

"H-hai, ch-chichue." Hinata bowed low before rushing past Toph. Her blood began to boil when she felt drops of water brush her arm. Hinata no longer felt like the girl she knew yesterday, casually laughing and enjoying being in the presence of the people she cares about. Whatever little self-confidence that Hinata had yesterday was now completely obliterated, by the man who was her father!

"What the hell is wrong with you? You almost killed her!" Toph shrieked, completely surprising both men in the area. Only one regained his composure rather quickly.

"You are in no position to speak to me in such a manner." Hiashi Hyuuga replied coolly; it was just like him to answer with the authority that intimidates anyone, except Toph. There were no lines or limits when she spoke to anyone. She regarded them all the same, and as a result she treated them all the same, age, status, gender meant nothing to her. In her sightless eyes, no one was different.

Toph growled, "I'll fix that." But before Toph could even step into the garden, Neji rushed to stop her. He bowed low to Hiashi-sama before dragging Toph away.

"Why did you take me away?! I could have taken him!" She had forgotten about Neji, or else she would have known that her temporary baby-sitter wouldn't allow her to have even tried fighting anyone, much less his uncle. But at that moment all reason went out of the window. She was usually calm and controlled but something about Hiashi's indifference and Hinata's pain drove her insane.

"Don't be foolish. You don't stand a chance against him." Neji said bluntly, not even attempting to calm the upset earthbender. If anything, he only succeeded in making her angrier. The slight rumbling of the ground proved that.

Neji could already visualize this stubborn girl destroying the Hyuuga compound, therefore he changed tactics. "It's not your battle."

It didn't calm Toph down, but it did force her to think rationally, if only slightly. She still felt the urge to destroy something.

"You let this happen to her everyday, even though she's family?" She asked thinking about how he knew where and how to find Hinata, and the way he watched the battle even though it tore him up inside. Oh yeah, Toph knew that the battle bothered Neji as much as it bothered her.

Neji nodded before realizing she couldn't see it. "Hai." There was nothing else he could say. It would be a waste of breath to explain the situation and laws of the clan to an outsider, especially one as stubborn as she.

"Then I'd hate to be related to you." Toph said before storming off, she no longer wanted to talk to him, or be in his presence. She didn't understand him. If there was something bothering her, she would have fixed it ages ago, but no, this man decides to sit back and watch.

Neji let her leave, understanding that she needed time to calm down and to let off steam. It was what he needed to do everyday, after watching Hiashi tear Hinata down each and every time. It really did suck to be helpless. He unconsciously touched his hitai-ate, before he bringing his hand down to his side again.

* * *

Toph stomped away, half willing and half ignoring herself to sink this stupid compound. She didn't have the slightest idea of where she was heading. She didn't care as long as she was as far away from this place as she could get. Even if she made it back to her own universe, Toph doubted that she would be as far as she wanted from this crazy and psychotic hell-hole.

Honestly, Hiashi and Hinata scared her. If that was how fathers would treat their daughters for not being strong enough, she could only wonder why she was complaining. Her father was the complete opposite of Hiashi; he was overly protective, but he treated her like a fragile glass doll that would shatter in the blink of an eye. But there was a similarity between the two fathers that really irked her.

Before she could give it a second thought, a door slid open to her right. It was Hinata.

"Please don't be upset with Neji-niisan." She said in a low voice that Toph had to strain to hear.

Toph was completely caught off guard and could only ask, "What?" Seriously, what was this girl getting at, and how did she know?

"This is my battle, Toph-san. Please do not get involved." Hinata said in the same low voice, only this time it was intertwined with what could only be determination.

Toph felt her eyebrows raise and her jaw dropped; the unfamiliar action seemed to suit the emotions that Toph was feeling, except one.

She collected herself quickly, and retorted, "Fine. It's none of my business if you die the next time. See if I care." With that, Toph ran away. She found the front door and immediately ran out, not caring that she almost ran into everyone in her path. She just kept running, because inside she was screaming.

* * *

After putting some distance between her and the Hyuuga compound, Toph began to feel slightly silly for running away. She felt like a child again, running when she heard something she didn't like or feeling something that she didn't understand. She didn't know how to deal with the foreign emotions, the ones that came from being in that pathetic excuse that some would call a home. Even after running though, she still felt frustrated, and once she reached a clearing, she released her dam.

She took comfort in the loud explosion and within a two mile radius everything was covered in dirt and rocks. The trees splintered and broke as easily as twigs. Anything green was covered by the soil of the earth, and when the dust cleared, Toph stood breathing slowly, her arms raised parallel to the ground and feet standing on the only grass located in a two-mile radius, elevated six feet above the damage that she wreaked.

Feeling only slightly better about how she usually deals with her emotions, Toph shifted in a way that forced the 'pedestal' that she stood on, to move over the damage and back to solid ground. That was when she realized that she had an audience of four actually. One was the ANBU that was watching her for the past day and a half. He seemed shocked by the display as well as a little unnerved, which she could tell from the race of his heartbeat. She smirked before turning to the rest of her audience.

She recognized the sluggish steps of Shikamaru, but the others she had never met before. One was a man who was speedily munching on something crunchy, he was obviously nervous. She could tell that he was large, probably towered her by a significant amount, but she could take him. He's just another pebble. The other was a woman who had a stance that conveyed her seriousness in this situation. Toph could feel her attempting to control her heart to beat steadily and remain calm, so that she could continue to be in control as she waited for Toph to act. And Shikamaru was just. . . Shikamaru. His stance was that bored stance he had before as well. But his heartbeat did spike, if only slightly, as if he just learned something alarming, which is unlikely since he already knew what she was capable of.

To break the tension, Toph asked, "Like what you see?"

"Who are you?" the woman asked rather rudely. So they were blunt and preferred to get straight to the point. Not a big deal, since she is the same way.

"It's only fair if you tell me your names first." Toph retorted; it seemed no one here had any manners.

The woman twitched, and before she could yell something at Toph, most likely bad, Shikamaru sighed rather loudly.

"Troublesome. Temari, Chouji this is Toph, Konoha's special guest, and vice versa." Apparently, the lazy guy found it too _troublesome_ to complete the introductions like a normal person, and Toph just loved how he emphasized that she was the special guest. Really, could he be any more obvious?

It seemed that Toph wasn't the only one annoyed with Shikamaru, since she felt the woman's, Temari's, cold glare leave her and fixate on the lazy man.

"Aaa, so you're the one who beat up Sasuke?" Chouji asked. She twitched when she felt him spit his leftovers all over the ground as he spoke. She recovered quickly seeing this as an interesting topic to discuss; apparently it returned the woman's attention, back to Toph.

"Yeah, so what if I did? What's it to ya?" Came her cocky reply. This girl was definitely arrogant, for someone who's blind. Temari took another look at the girl and frowned. There honestly wasn't much to brag about. This girl could never really have beaten the Uchiha; he must have gone easy on her. Although in another scenario, this girl could be the real thing and underestimating her would be as stupid as underestimating Naruto. However Sasuke trained with Orochimaru, the snake sannin, and had learned all his forbidden jutsus, and it's unlikely that he would use them on her in a battle to test her, without killing her. And since the girl is standing before them in all her haughtiness, she never saw the jutsus that made Sasuke a dangerous shinobi. Very few have and lived to tell about it.

"Oi! Where's Neji-san?" Shikamaru asked, in his seemingly bored tone. Temari could tell he was a bit nervous that Konoha's special guest was unsupervised, and even as he remained calm, she could see the wheels turning his head as he tried to remedy the situation. After being with him for so long the little things that he did, became obvious and usually it became all she really needed from him.

She turned her attention back to Toph in time to see something flash across her face, before she smirked and replied, "He couldn't keep up."

Before anyone could respond to that, a harsh wind blew, and everyone, even Temari had to use her arms to cover her eyes. Wind being her element, it didn't take her long to realize that this wasn't natural. She could feel the chakra surrounding the air and so did everyone else. She saw Shikamaru signal to the ANBU in the trees to report to the Godaime. She caught sight of the girl, as she looked unaffected by the wind, almost as if she didn't feel a thing. She looked _dazed_. Temari saw Toph's lips move to form one word, before another gust of wind blew their way, blinding the three once more.

After that, Temari was getting sick of being bested by her own element, and undid her own fan, in one swift movement. She pumped her chakra through the fan and formed two equally strong gusts of wind to cancel out the other. When the air calmed down, they realized that the girl had left, but it was difficult to determine where.

Where the hell did the girl go, and what the hell was that crazy wind? Did that mean that the girl was holding back when she fought Sasuke? Was she even capable of manipulating the air as well? The girl was up to something if she had to use such a cheap trick to get away from them. But there was one thing that had Temari puzzled;

"What the hell is 'Momo'?"

* * *

Please Review!! it makes me happy enough to update! 


	5. Chapter 5

Author's notes: I'm sorry it took so long to update! I swear i was working on it, I just wanted it to be **perfect** since this is the chapter that I and maybe some other have been waiting for. I really enjoyed writing it, and my statement still stands, there is no definite pairings for Toph, but I do plan on seeing her relationship with Neji and Gaara grow, to help me determine it. I still love suggestions though. I helps me write their encounters!!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Please enjoy!!

* * *

It was Momo, it had to be Momo. It was that familiar and annoying chattering, and Toph had even felt him rub his soft coat against her face before taking off. 

Of course at the moment, the noise was the furthest from her thoughts. She was so elated that she forgot she was even entertaining a group of shinobi, much less be in shock that they actually let her leave.

The moment she realized which direction Momo took off in, she sped after him. She wasn't going to lose him this time, and she would be reunited with her friends again. Then she could go home.

She knew Aang, Katara, and Sokka would do whatever they could to find her. They wouldn't dare leave her high and dry. And now, they could explore this new world together, if they wanted to. They had lives to get back to, but it was always worth a try. But that wasn't the most important thing.

They had found her, the thought ran through her mind over and over again. Sure, it could be said that she was dealing with feelings of abandonment, but there was no way she'd admit to it. It wasn't even that big of a deal now. They're here. Some distance in front of her, they were waiting for her; they were looking for her. And they would find her.

She continued to listen for Momo's chattering to lead her out of this place. It was the only thing she could follow from the flying lemur.

She was going home; she would be with her family again.

"I'm so outta here." She smirked as she concentrated on the pull in her feet as she firmly connected them into the earth. She used the earth to propel her forward as she attempted to reach her destination, as soon as possible. She took solace in the lemur's form of communication. The occasional noise was enough reassurance that she was going in the right direction.

Then in mid-chatter, Momo disappeared.

Toph felt as though she had been doused in cold water. She continued to move forward, not believing for a second that her grasp on reality was fading. _Animals don't just disappear._

Her frustration increased, as did her earthbending. She sped faster in the same direction, while the area became more destroyed. She was being sloppy and she knew it, but she couldn't seem to care. Her attention focused on one thing, and it was to locate her friends, anything familiar. Sounds, footsteps, _anything_.

It was then that she noticed she wasn't alone. There was someone standing in the path directly in front of her, knowing full well that they would get bowled over, if she chose not to stop. Feeling rather considerate, she slowed down, but remained hovering over the intruder, in an attempt to look intimidating.

It obviously didn't work, since the guy's heart rate didn't so much as twitch when she came plowing in. Although, maybe he had something to do with Momo disappearing. She hadn't even sensed him until Momo disappeared.

Something was going on here, and Toph really didn't like the direction it was going in at all.

Toph crossed her arms and glared down at the intruder. "What do you want?"

It was her turn to suppress a shudder as cold eyes stared at her. She really didn't feel like dealing with the Kazekage at the moment.

* * *

'Where could she have gone,' Neji wondered as he wandered the streets. 

He had let her run off, but he didn't think she would get that far since she was bl-. He shook his head from finishing that thought. He shouldn't be underestimating her, especially now since he couldn't find her. She just needed air.

This was why it was unwise decision to entrust the woman with him. Of course it would be impossible to even say that to the Hokage.

It was improper for an outsider to become involved in Hyuuga affairs where this is one of the possible outcomes. People like her don't respond well to traditions like these. They just don't understand; they just can't. He remembered when Naruto found out; he rubbed his cheek out of memory. It only strengthened his resolve, to become Hokage, and to help change Hyugga. But the goal is just too idealistic.

The values of the Hyuuga clan are just too embedded, too ingrained into the souls of all the Hyuuga. To simply command everything to change like that, it just cannot be done.

Neji sighed and rubbed his head. He could feel a migraine coming, as he half hoped he would find her soon, while begging that he wouldn't have to deal with her constant nagging.

He was walking in the direction that Hinata-sama had claimed to have seen her run. But still he came up empty. Maybe he was going the wrong way? Maybe he took a wrong turn; it was either the streets of Konoha or the training grounds.

"Oi, Neji-kun." It was Chouji. Quickly, Neji ran through all the possibilities of their encounter and they all led to a young dark-haired woman.

"There's something you should know before Hokage-sama wrings your neck for letting your charge run off…"

"Just, out with it." Neji sighed again; it was only one day too. But what he heard next certainly wasn't what he was expecting.

* * *

Gaara took in the sight in front of him. The woman from before stood on a makeshift hill that was at least three feet taller than he was, her sightless eyes stared blankly at him, her lips formed a grim line, and her face was flushed from the 'exercise'. Her arms were crossed over her baggy, green shirt. 

When he ignored her previous question, she grew more frustrated. He could see it in the way her eyebrows knitted together and then she hollered at him, "Fine, don't answer me. Just get out of my way." And she was serious about it to, from her stance she was considering going around him, or crushing him where he stood.

"I cannot allow you to pass."

"What?!" She seemed indignant, rather than confused. Slowly, he let his sand slip out of his gourd and onto the ground.

The light vibration of something like sand dropping onto the ground didn't go unnoticed to Toph.

'If this guy wants a fight, I sure ain't running away.' She smirked as she got into a defensive stance, while she waited for him to make his move. And waited, and waited.

"What the hell, if you're not going to fight then move!" She shouted down at him.

"I don't want to hurt you." To say Toph was shocked was an understatement. There was no physical reaction that said he was lying, but Azula could pull the same trick, so she learned that he could have mastered lying. He was a shinobi after all.

But the way he said it, probably affected Toph more than she realized. He didn't so much as raise his voice to make sure she heard it. He didn't even sound cocky about it. He sounded sincere. Unfortunately, Toph couldn't tell since he said it in that monotone voice of his. Obviously that was why he didn't sound cocky about it, but Toph wasn't so sure if he was sincere or not.

She snapped out of her contemplation to find he was still in the exact same position as before, not a hair out of place, as he stood watching her let down her guard. Feeling embarrassed to have pulled an amateur mistake in front of a possible enemy, she snapped at him once more.

"Well?" She asked testing the waters. She wasn't sure what his abilities were but she was definitely correct in assuming that it had something to do with sand. Earth, maybe he was a sandbender? Great. She loathed sand.

"It's not like you could." She taunted. Toph wasn't really underestimating him, but she just wanted to get a reaction out of him. Anything at all.

Still, he had no physical reaction, at least none that she could see; there was no way for her to see the gears working in his head.

"I'm asking one last time, back down and return with me to Konoha." He demanded calmly, as though she was someone he could boss around. At least, that was what Toph interpreted from his condescending tone.

"Make me", was her only reply before she shifted and pulled a boulder toward her. The effect was trying to hit the Kazekage from behind. She felt the vibration of the boulder making impact with something she knew wasn't his body. It hit sand, a wall of sand. 'Great'.

The next thing she knew a streak of sand was coming towards her. She sank into her makeshift hill, ducking from the sand attack, and stayed buried. When she felt the vibrations of sand moving from underneath her, she studied it for a moment. It felt like the dirt beneath her feet was being molded into sand. Then there was the strange energy emitting from the sand. She could almost see the swirling energy moving through the ground along with it. He wasn't a normal sandbender, he was using that chakra that shinobi use, to control the sand. She reacted quickly and shoved all four sides of the 'hill' into different directions. Again, the Kazekage's shield protected him from the on slot of rocks.

When he attacked with his sand again, this time Toph was ready. She concentrated on the areas where the chakra was weakest and bended the sand back towards the Kazekage. To say the least, the Kazekage wasn't prepared to be attacked by his own sand, but he reacted naturally. His sand shield restored itself before him, except this time the traitorous sand actually penetrated his shield. He dodged just enough for the sand to graze his shoulder. Once it had stopped, he narrowed his eyes at the woman before him. A mixture of feelings was directed toward her; anger, interest, but most of all confusion.

Sensing only his confusion, she simply smirked and said, "You're smart. Figure it out yourself."

For a moment the Kazekage went quiet as he studied what had happened.

"You manipulated the sand where my chakra was weakest."

Toph resisted the urge to pout, and instead retorted, "Took you long enough."

She heard him lightly chuckle, "And your attacks are the result of your movements."

Before she knew it, she was enveloped in sand, her whole body was wrapped up tight and she could barely wiggle herself out of it.

"Nice, a coffin of sand," She commented rather sarcastically. "I usually don't have the patience to create these kinds of things; I'd rather just crush them beneath the earth." Of course, she was bluffing, Toph had never killed a person in her life, at least, not on purpose, the way she had described. She just wanted to gauge a reaction, maybe to see what his next move would be.

"I told you I don't want to hurt you." He replied once more.

Slightly miffed when she felt her cheeks warm, she moved her head that sent wave of earth to knock the Kazekage off his feet and to loosen his grip. Effectively, she freed herself from her prison. She could feel the questioning gaze of her attacker, even though she could not see it.

"You should have covered my head too", Toph answered cheekily, glad to have caught him off guard.

"It would have been a shame to cover such a pretty face." Toph cheeks burned as she felt the Kazekage's smirk direct itself at her. Now she was pissed off. The longer they fought the more comfortable they got. It made her feel _something_, but she didn't know how to describe how she felt with the Kazekage seemingly feeling more at ease with teasing her. Flattered? She could tell this wasn't a side that he showed to many people, but seriously she hated being the target for his amusement.

It was then she realized something. She was completely surrounded by sand. That Kaze-freak had created so much sand that they were basically sitting in a man-made desert. She cursed at herself for her stupidity. She shouldn't have let something like this happen.

"Do you surrender?" The Kaze-freak asked calmly. Obviously he heard her berate herself, but what pissed her off more was that he even dared to mention something that she would never do.

"Like hell I will." She tried to think quickly. She could already notice how the vibrations became fuzzier. If she didn't do something soon, she would lose. She didn't bother to wonder what it was that she was fighting with him over to start with because it would only lead to a line of thought that could easily distract her. But now, it was necessary to get her thoughts together and keep herself from screwing up.

The only advantage that she could see was that the Kazekage didn't know about how the sand affected her sight. If anything, he could assume that she was in her element as much as he was. But to keep up the pretense would be a trial. The man before her rarely made any physical reactions, and now that the vibrations are dimming, the sand would make it that much harder to try and hit him without looking like a blind idiot.

Her only chance to pinpoint his location was with his voice. Her hearing is better than normal. If she could just get him to monologue, or something, she would effectively get in enough decent hits to finish this battle.

Unfortunately that chance was as great as asking Naruto to shut up.

She concentrated on her opponent. She could feel him standing there, but something felt off. She wanted to shrug it off and assume that the sand was messing with her sight, but she couldn't shake the feeling. Trusting her instincts, she made the attempt to 'see' her surroundings.

All of a sudden, another person appeared and stood behind her, holding her at knife point. He had his arm around her pinning her arms to her sides, while his other hand held the knife-like object to her neck.

"What the hell?" She shouted. 'How the hell did he get behind me? He's _in front_ of me.'

"You're smart. Figure it out." His breathed near her ear, sending tingles all throughout her body. She squirmed feeling _slightly_ uncomfortable with his proximity.

It was when she realized the differences in the vibrations of the man behind her, and that _thing_ in front of her. Whatever was in front of her was_hollow_. She would have realized sooner if it weren't for the damn sand, she could have caught the Kazekage before he could even think about getting behind her.

It's like those damn buushins that Naruto uses, except this one, was made of sand.

It was then that she became aware of the object pressed at her neck, the _metal_ object pressed at her neck.

She attempted to hide the grin from appearing on her face, but the Kazekage seemed to have already realized that she was planning something.

"Don't even think about it." He warned her, while the arm around her waist tightened, refusing to let go. Again the space between her and the Kazekage, or lack thereof, was seriously becoming an issue for her. 'The first thing I'm going to do when I get out of this is break his arms.'

It wasn't that she_hated_ physical contact. It's just she liked keeping people at a distance. That was what she did best. She was aware that Katara, Sokka and Aang had already made their way into her life, and even then they respected her need for personal space. That was why Snoozles warned her of something like this happening.

She thought of the one time they had 'sparred' since Sokka wasn't a bender and stuff. But he stressed that her strength was a weakness. That if someone did make their way through her defenses, she wouldn't know what to do. He had yet to actually make it past her defenses and prove his theory to her, but he did mention a tip. Now Toph is wishing that she had actually listened to what Snoozles had said.

Like an epiphany, it came to her on its own. She rocked on the balls of her feet until she loosened one of her arms, keeping in mind that the strongest part of her body is her elbows, she attempted to elbow the Kazekage in the gut.

The Kazekage, having no choice but to release her, unless he actually wanted to slit her throat, jumped back to avoid getting hit. He grunted at the smirk that made its way to her face.

"Like you said, you don't want to hurt me." She moved into another stance and one of her hands looked like it gripped something invisible. Before he knew it, the kunai in his hand blew up. He could feel himself twitch, a slight tremor, but the woman, Toph, felt it anyway.

She smiled, almost gleeful that she finally got a reaction out of the stoic shinobi before her.

"It's time to end this." It was true, she wasn't going to let him sneak up on her again, and she already knew that he wouldn't hurt her. Unless he had a hidden ace up his sleeve, Toph was feeling pretty confident, even though she was surrounded by sand. Besides, the longer she took fighting him, the more he learned, about her fighting style, her strengths, and more importantly her weaknesses.

Suddenly, she heard the trees and bushes rustle to her right and someone shouting something like "Hakke Rokujuyon Sho", she was immediately bombarded with consecutive hits to multiple areas of her body. The speed made her dizzy, or maybe it was whatever that guy did to her.

She honestly didn't know what hit her. It felt as though something foreign entered her system, and she just shut down, the same thing that happens when that circus freak, Ty Lee punches her. It was the same yet different somehow. The last thing she could have sworn hearing though was Neji's voice. She didn't even feel the ground, just nothing, as she lost consciousness.

* * *

AN: Yes i know, I'll explain Momo's presence next chapter, so don't get upset with me!! It's all part of my master plan! But yes, I will try my hardest to make sure I update before i go back to school. Because i might temporarily be out of commission, but I will be back, your reviews revives the creativity in me. 

Please update, constructive criticism welcome.


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